Ravenous Void
by Syynex
Summary: He was a black hole, an ever-hungry abyss, a being that fed on the energy of the world around him. For years he had remained in Karakura town, feasting upon the Shinigami exiles that lived there, but a recent visit by a certain amethyst-eyed noble might have brought his hungry gaze to Seireitei. Could they possibly handle this being and his power? Not a chance in hell.
1. Chapter 1

**Today I decided to post all the stories gathering dust in my folders. I figure that if NeonZangetsu-Sempai can do it so can I. Don't expect updates on these, I'm just posting them so you can all see why I take forever to update. Enjoy ^_^**

* * *

Hollows, negative souls that were once human, are eternally hungry, forever searching to fill the emptiness that has replaced their hearts. Each spirit which they devour- be it human, each other, or an entirely different source- momentarily satisfies their hunger. There are only two cures for this; evolving into a Vasto Lorde or becoming an Arrancar by ripping off their mask.

Hollows are the only spiritual being to suffer from such a curse.

Or they had been.

That had ended when a young Kurosaki Ichigo developed his own limitless hunger, fueled by the sudden emptiness left in his heart by his mother's tragic death and the reiatsu of the hollow that had ended her life.

At first he didn't know how to control this hunger, nor how to satisfy it, and this couldn't have been more beneficial for the boy. The immediate void created an immense vacuum, sucking in both his mother's reiatsu and most of the hollow's, causing it to retreat.

But it didn't stop there.

Karakura town had always been unusually saturated with reiatsu- probably due to the high-level shinigami that lived there- and his soul saw nothing wrong with helping itself to the feast available to it. With each trace of reiatsu it consumed his own pool grew bigger, as the phantom memories within said reiatsu accumulated his intelligence increased, and when his father had come searching for him his power jumped drastically.

Ever since that fateful event he had been raising his sisters and, more importantly, gaining more power. His hunger for power did not stop at reiatsu, no, it worked on all power types, food, heat, light, electricity, anything that possessed energy was consumed, drawn into Kurosaki Ichigo;

Drawn into a Ravenous Void.

* * *

The silent night wrapped around his form, blanketing him with the pale light of the full moon. Long black hair fell down his back, swept back and forth by a cold breeze, and appeared to melt into the large coat he wore. It fell down to his ankles, split between the legs, and seemed to be made of a fur-like substance over the shoulders and neck.

A white cravat wedged itself between the coat, forcing open the inky fabric and adding some of the only contrast to the outfit other than the man's pale complexion. Black trousers were tucked into combat boots of the same colour and a pair of white gloves finished the look.

Lips and eyes, darker than the deepest recesses of mankind's hearts, stood out brilliantly against the impossibly white skin of his face. It was if he were the night itself, a luminous moon surrounded by the black of night.

Flowers wilted as his gloved hands passed over them, shriveling into dust as all their energy was leached from them. Some might say that time was the most powerful thing in the universe, and they would be wrong. He was the most powerful thing in the universe, simply because he was power itself, a limitless, ever-expanding collection of energy-

And he still hungered for more.

* * *

Footsteps fell like crashing thunder outside the warehouse, announcing the approach of the one being the building's occupants were truly terrified of. The being which could effortlessly kill them all on a whim, not due to his power, but his lack of power, the eternal hunger that had no problems sucking them dry of all the reiryoku they possessed.

He had been showing up for the past couple years, draining them as soon as they recovered from the last time he had done so. There were two reasons they didn't resist; the first was that they were powerless against him, unable to do anything but increase his own might, and the second was because the constant siphoning of reiryoku actually increased it, benefiting both parties.

The eight figures within shivered in despair as the door rose, showing the silhouette of their lord and master. Just because in the end they gained something from this didn't mean they wouldn't prefer gaining it in other ways. Ways that didn't involve such a horrifying man, a teen with the power gods dreamed of and the will to use them for his purposes. There was only one reason for this visit, one that wouldn't be pleasant for the Visored.

Kurosaki Ichigo was here to collect his dues.

* * *

'_It's quiet, too damn quiet.' _Thought Kuchiki Rukia, a shinigami of division 13, as she looked down on Karakura town from her perch atop a telephone pole. Her eyes narrowed as she felt the reiatsu in the air, or rather, the _lack_ of it.

'_Wasn't this town supposed to have one of the largest reiatsu readings in the human world?' _She questioned. Something was wrong here, very wrong, and now it was her duty to find out what.

But first, she needed information, and she knew exactly who to go to for it.

The door slid open and the head of Urahara Kisuke popped out to greet his midnight visitor. When his gaze landed on the petite form of Kuchiki Rukia his eyes widened in horror. Before she could speak he had slammed the door to the far wall and urgently dragged her in, shutting and locking the door behind him. With haste he activated the reiatsu suppressers he had made, though he knew it was pointless. Kurosaki had no doubt sensed the young shinigami and felt her reiatsu disappear at his shop. It was only a matter of time before he investigated this new meal opportunity.

Gods knew how much the boy enjoyed fresh reiatsu.

"Urahara!" Shouted Rukia in surprise. "What the hell are you doing?!" He turned to the girl, his face twisted into a mask of fury she had never before seen.

"What the hell am I doing?" Repeated the scientist. "I'm keeping your ass alive for just a little bit longer, what the fuck are you doing here?!" Reeling back slightly, she gathered the courage to answer him, something she never thought she'd have to do with the perverted shopkeeper.

"I-I was assigned to Karakura town." She may have continued explaining had Urahara not cursed rather loudly.

"You have to get out of here." He ordered. "**Now."**

"What? Why?! I can't leave until Seireitei recalls me!" His look was almost too serious to be real.

"If you don't leave now, they won't be able to." Spoke the man gravely. From a backroom came a caramel-skinned woman dressed in tightly fitting jeans and a tank top, she seemed confused- shouting in the middle of the night might confuse anyone- but realization hit her as she took in Rukia's presence.

"What's she doing here?" She asked in a panic. "He'll come for her, you know that, Kisuke. She can't stay here or we risk putting everyone in danger."

"What the hell's going on?" Questioned the uninformed shinigami. "Who are you talking about?"

"There is a being of immense power here, one who feeds off the reiryoku of everything," Explained the Ex-captain. "He will come for you, to either suck you dry until not even a corpse remains or will enslave you so that he may continuously feed off of your soul. You have to get out of here now, before he comes, or you might never get away."

"I-I can't!" Exclaimed Rukia, panic and realization setting in. "I don't have a way to open a Senkaimon!" Kisuke's expression turned regretful.

"I'm afraid, Kuchiki-san, that we have to ask you to leave. Your presence puts my employees at risk, and I can't have that." Horror set in, they weren't going to just send her out on her own, were they? With something like that out there?

"You can't possibly mea-"

"Your best bet is to run to a nearby town, the chances of him pursuing you outside what he has deemed his 'territory' are very slim. If you can, travel by train or bus, he's less likely to get ahold of you." Advised the now morose man.

"T-thanks, I'll try to get you guys help from Seireitei, something like that shouldn't be in the human world." Nervously she existed the building, suddenly fearing every shadow, and took of towards the train station.

She had come here as a hunter of Hollows, and now she would leave the prey of man.

* * *

"You had to do it, Kisuke, we had no choice." Comforted Yoruichi as she rested a hand upon his shoulder, her expression as sorrowful as his own.

"I know," He sighed. "But she shouldn't have been dragged into this, we both know she won't get away."

"Yeah, I know." Admitted the flash goddess sadly. "No one ever does."

* * *

The half-full glass of wine was gently set down upon his mahogany desk, his dark eyes still closed. It seemed as though he had a visitor, some lost sheep wandering into his territory to graze on his grass.

He would let them graze, allow them to fatten themselves on his land, and when they were ready he would descend and devour them, the wolf in shepherd's clothing.

Black lips momentarily frowned as the reiatsu signature disappeared, but they quickly rose into a smirk when he realized where it had vanished at-

Urahara's shop.

He'd have to visit them later, after he had dealt with his guest, even attempting to hide something like this from him was unacceptable, and Kisuke should have known that. It looks like the Ex-captain needed to be re-educated about the rules of his territory.

Idly, he wondered how little Ururu was doing, he hadn't seen her for a while. A visit was definitely in order.

Opening his coal eyes, Ichigo rose up from the leather chair and left his office. He had a sheep to hunt.

* * *

"So what did you get for number five?" asked Yuzu as she stared intently at the last math problem she needed to finish to be done with the weekend's homework.

"I couldn't figure that one out either." Admitted her sister Karin. The two were sitting at one of the many booths that made up the dark bar they lived above. Soon after their parents had died in that freak accident a few years ago Ichigo had sold the house and moved them here, saying that there was no point in having a doctor-less clinic. They didn't know exactly why he had chosen to open a bar instead, but Karin could have sworn she saw him swipe a bottle on more than one occasion.

The bar was always dim, the primary colours being crimson, gold, and brown, and had a fairly relaxed atmosphere despite its high-class appearance. While she may question her brothers real reason for purchasing it, she couldn't deny that it was a good source of revenue. Though the people he hired to keep it running were rather odd, especially because only one seemed to work regularly, the others just sort of lazed about.

Speaking of employees, one walked into the room, drawing Yuzu's attention. They were quite young looking, with blonde hair and green eyes, and dressed almost entirely in black, much like her brother, but in a more...normal…style. Her brother had very different taste in clothing, she had noticed over the years.

"Yukio-kun!" Yuzu called excitedly. "Can you help us with our math homework?" The blonde definitely didn't look like he wanted to, but he walked over anyway.

"Of course, Kurosaki-sama" He replied. That was another weird thing about the employees, they addressed any Kurosaki as 'sama'. It may have to do with the fact that they were hired by the twin's brother, but it seemed like there was a deeper meaning for that, with their brother, at least. They truly only seemed to give them such an honorific because they were his sisters.

Before he could begin explaining the problem to the two girls the attention of the three was captured by yet another presence, one that couldn't be ignored. After all, it was hard to ignore the feeling of your soul being drawn to his being.

"Kurosaki-sama." Bowed Yukio in greeting. The twins were far less reserved with their welcome, blasting from the booth and launching themselves into his arms.

"Ichi-Nii!" They cried happily. They didn't see him as much as they'd like, usually at school when he was home, and when they were home he tended to be busy with something. They couldn't fault him, seeing as this was all to keep them provided for, but that didn't mean they didn't want to be with their big brother more.

"Good evening girls, how was school?" Asked Ichigo with a faint smile.

"It was great!" Exclaimed Yuzu as the young brunette began animatedly retelling the day's events, causing him to chuckle. "And then Machida-Baka took my bag, so Karin-chan beat him up!" His laughter was dark and smooth, fitting his appearance perfectly.

"Is that so?" He inquired. She nodded with vigor. "Well then, it seems like you two had quite the day."

"Hey, Ichi-Nii, after we finish our homework do you think that we could, uh, maybe watch a movie with you?" Asked Karin. Looking truly sorry, Ichigo regretfully answered in the negative.

"Sorry Karin-chan, but I have business I need to take care of." She looked down sadly, as did Yuzu, and he would have none of that. "Hey, don't give me those sad looks, you two are much cuter happy. Tell you what, while I'm out I'll pick up things so that we can spend all day tomorrow watching movies, sound good?"

Their eyes lit up considerably, almost outshining the brilliance of the sun. "Really, Ichi-Nii?" A hopeful Yuzu asked.

"Really, we can spend all day doing absolutely nothing but lounging on the couch and eating junk food."

The brunette squealed in excitement as she hugged him even tighter. "Thanks, Ichi-Nii, you're the best!"

"Now, I do believe Yukio was helping you with your homework, after which you two need to get to bed, it's way too late for you to be up."

"Hai, Ichi-Nii!" They chorused as they climbed down and scurried back to the booth.

"I'll be back in a few hours," He informed them as he reached the door. "I expect you girls to be in bed by then." With that he left down the street, a lone specter illuminated by the occasional street light and the luminous moon.

The night was his, and this new shinigami would be too.


	2. Chapter 2

She ran, feet pounding the pavement, heart threatening to explode, and lungs burning for air they couldn't take in fast enough. In her panicked state the thought to run over the air never occurred to her, something that might have made her hopeless journey less challenging.

He was terrified.

An ex-captain of the Gotei thirteen, trembling in fright because of a single soul.

Urahara was _**never**_ scared, which meant that this was no joke, there was something here, something deadly, a predator of the night stalking any spiritual being that entered his territory.

And right now that was her.

Rukia had never before feared for her life as much as she did at this moment, and she hadn't even seen the threat yet. Just trying to imaginer the creature's appearance caused her to shudder in horror. A beast that leached away reiryoku was the equivalent of a spiritual vampire, sucking away the life of any soul it came across.

Mid-step she froze, suddenly aware of an unnatural coldness, of a presence that sucked in everything around it like an eternally hungry chasm with no bottom. Could this be what Urahara feared? Was the monster right here, watching his prey as she feebly tried to escape?

She turned her head ever so slightly, where was he? Her eyes, no matter how hard they searched, could not find a trace of the being she felt. It pulled her soul towards it, in the direction she stared, and yet there was nothing there. Was it hiding? Was it invisible? Was she overreacting?

A chilling breeze sent shivers down her spine as sudden movement caught her attention, allowing her to finally see the one so feared.

His statuesque form remained still under the streetlight, covered in black. It was only his black hair, moving in the wind, which allowed her to notice him, despite the fact that he was a silhouette of darkness standing in a cone of light.

His head rose, a face of the purest white snow stained by black lips and the deep voids that were his eyes. Those eyes were what pulled on her soul, she decided, ravenous depths that wanted nothing more than to be filled and would stop at nothing to do so.

Instinctively, her body turned to face him as he approached, her hand already on the hilt of her Zanpakuto.

This was the terrifying monster of Karakura? Kisuke feared this? She had expected a hideous monster, much like a hollow, but this before her was something from an anime, an extremely handsome, regal looking young man that could have passed for a Kuchiki noble.

However, that would not cause her to let down her guard, nor did it keep her from swinging her sword at him when he was within range. In response he held out his hand, as calm as a winter's night.

Instead of his hand being cut, her sword simply passed through, and she quickly figured out why.

The reiryoku that made up her blade dissolved, floating around the man's hand, and leaving her with little more than a hilt, a hilt that was ever so slowly reverting to reiryoku like the rest of her Zanpakuto. Even as she dropped the handle its form was dissipating, turning into a pure white liquid that was drawn to his outstretched hand.

Bringing his gloved hand before his face, the man closed his fist and her reiryoku soaked into the white fabric. Black eyes closed as he savored his meal, his face showing pure ecstasy.

Great, not only was she being hunted for being in his territory, but he obviously enjoyed the taste of her soul, too. The chances of her getting away just seemed to get smaller by the second, the once small window of opportunity now too tiny to ever dream of passing through.

"It has been a long time," His spoke as a midnight river, a cold, dark voice sent words flowing over his tongue with ease. "Since I have tasted the reiryoku of a new shinigami. Such is a refreshing and much welcomed change."

He had a great source of power here in Karakura town, but it was comparable to eating some form of canned food every day for years. The new reiatsu of this shinigami was like fresh meat or ripe fruit. Yes, the occasional Hollow brought new reiatsu and reiryoku, but even they knew that the souls of shinigami were the best tasting.

He would definitely be keeping this one.

For now.

His clenched fist opened and he swept it like a claw before her, as if pulling away a curtain between them. As it parted the air white reiryoku gathered at his fingertips, her white reiryoku, the power of her soul being pulled away without the slightest contact or effort. It was drawn to him, she concluded, sucked into a vacuum of power never to emerge again.

This man was dangerous, very dangerous, such an ability could shatter the carefully kept balance of the spiritual realms.

The sudden loss of her spiritual energy left her too weak to stand, and she promptly collapsed upon the ground.

"I must thank you, shinigami, brining me your reiryoku was very kind of you. Let me return your kindness and offer you a place to stay, you seem quite tired at the moment." Taunted Ichigo with a smirk.

Rukia only managed to muster up enough energy to mumble 'bastard' as he scooped her up into his arms and walked away, her mind already in the realm of unconsciousness.

Once a sheep entered his land it became his. He was the shepherd and would gather any lost sheep, brining them back to the safety of their pen;

His pen.

The pen of the wolf.

* * *

Hmm, perhaps he should've brought someone with him, it would be quite odd for him to walk in with his arms outstretched as if holding something, and leaving her unattended wasn't an option. Giving a sigh, Ichigo began summoning reiryoku around his form, which branched of into two roughly humanoid shapes of pitch black. A single crimson eye opened on both the 'heads', taking up almost all of them.

"Watch her." He ordered as he passed Rukia's unconscious body to one of them. He really didn't like doing this, removing some of the energy he had accumulated to make such simple creatures. It was a waste, in his opinion, and always left him with a strange feeling of incompleteness. Ignoring this, he entered the small convenience store, he had promised his sisters a day of junk food and movies, after all.

* * *

Chips, candy, soda, anything his sisters could possibly want was piled into his arms as Ichigo stalked the aisles to prepare for the following day…er, later today. Time sure flies when you're kidnapping a woman.

Bending down to examine what was most likely a bag of sugar and chemicals, he didn't see the other person in the aisle, though they seemed to both see and recognize him.

"Ichigo?" Asked a voice behind him, obviously female. He turned to her and was meet with a face he hadn't seen in at least six years.

"Hmm? Ah, Arisawa-san, it's been awhile, hasn't it?" He said as he stood up, turning to face his childhood friend.

"Is that really you, Ichigo? I haven't seen you in years and now you look so different, what happened?" She inquired. The last time she had seen him he had bright orange hair, warm brown eyes, and dressed like an average person, not like…well…this! She didn't even know what category this would fall under.

"I am indeed myself, Arisawa-san." He answered rather unhelpfully. "Not much has happened over the past few years, barring my parent's deaths. How have you been?" Eyes widening, her hands moved to cover her mouth as she let out a gasp.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't know!"

"It's fine." He assured her. "Time heals all wounds and their deaths were not recent." She didn't seemed convinced, but didn't push the topic.

"So…" Began Tatsuki as she struggled to keep a conversation going. She never really talked much with Ichigo, usually just beating him down and moving on. It felt weird now that she had finally seen him after all this time, he had grown from that bratty mama's boy he had been. Well, it was hard to be a mama's boy without a mother.

It was the armful of sweets that saved her from the awkwardness. "Why are you buying all that?"

He gave a soft smile. "I promised the girls that we could spend the day watching movies together."

While Tatsuki was by no means a girly-girl, even she had to suppress a squeal, this was just too sweet. This unapproachable looking teen was here late at night just so that he could spend a day watching movies with his little sisters, she could only imagine how adorable it would look to have the three curled up on the couch together.

"That's nice, how are they taking the, uh, you know…" She stumbled over herself, trying not to mention his deceased parents. Lucky for her he knew exactly what she was hinting at.

"As well as can be expected," He answered. "Okaa-san's death hit them hardest, but they're slowly recovering. These days you can hardly tell they're still affected."

"Oh, well, that's good to hear." This conversation was not very comfortable, having been separated from the Kurosaki's family for so long. "I should probably get going, see you around, Ichigo." With that she hastily left. It was slightly saddening to know that she couldn't stand talking to him, but he supposed it was only logical due to the six-year wide divide between them.

Giving a slight shrug of his shoulders, he headed to the cashier to pay. He had paperwork to take care of when he got back, and it needed to be done by the time his sisters woke up.

* * *

A knock on his office door tore Ichigo's attention from the papers he had been poring over, scattered over his desk in a haphazard manner.

"Enter." He commanded, keeping his gaze from his work only long enough to identify his visitor. It had been the magenta hair that told him all he needed to know.

"Riruka," The teen addressed her. "Is there something I can help you with?"

The Fullbringer gained a noticeable blush, very similar to her hair, and hesitated a moment before speaking.

"I brought you some coffee, Kurosaki-sama." She answered as she approached him, setting the steaming cup down carefully on the paper-littered desk. Giving a smile, he reached for the wonderful caffeine.

"Thank you, that was very thoughtful of you." He said, taking a sip. "Seeing as you're both up and bringing me coffee, am I right to assume that it's morning?" Nodding, most of her nervousness seemed to disappear.

"Hai, Kurosaki-sama. Tsukishima is almost done with breakfast and Yukio is waking the girls up for your movie day."

"Excellent, what of Ginjo? I think I heard him arrive in the truck an hour or so ago." He set the cup down so that he could resume his work, which was luckily almost finished.

"He's back, there were some issues with your order that he had to take care of, so he's going to eat something and go to bed."

"Hmm, that's good, we were starting to run low." Looking up from the papers, he locked eyes with her. "I need you to go tell Jackie to prepare the basement for today, afterwards I'll need you to bring my breakfast up here to me, I'm going to be working through breakfast to finish all of this before spending time with the girls. Understood?"

"Hai, Kurosaki-sama, I'll get right on it." Turning on her heels she walked out, and Ichigo could have sworn he saw her taking extra effort to make her hips sway. But that was impossible, he must have just imagined it, right?

Taking a rather large- and painful- gulp of his coffee, he went back to work.

Kami he hated all this paperwork bullshit!


End file.
